Multidisciplinary approach for the conservation of the Casoli triptych

Abstract

The triptych of Santa Liberata is housed in Santa Reparata Church of Casoli, a little town in the district of Chieti (Central Italy). The Catholic community requested a restoration of the triptych to restore the original appearance of the painting. The aim of this work has been to restore a better vision of the painting, through a double intervention on the support and on the pictorial film. The multidisciplinary approach made it possible to carry out analyses aimed at studying the constituent materials, executive techniques and defining the intermediate objectives to be achieved in the various phases of the restoration. The analytical method and the multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary method guarantee a respectful approach to the artwork. The operations on the wooden support made possible to recover a partial flatness of the surface, guaranteeing a more homogeneous view of the pictorial film. The restoration was carried out with fir wood (Abies alba Mill.), a philological choice consistent with the botanical species of the wooden support. The application of the new elastic containment system allows the table to contain the micro-movements due to thermo-hygrometric variations without a rigid constraint. The cleaning operations made possible to recover the brilliance of the polychromies that appeared yellowed due to varnish oxidation. Pictorial reintegration and aesthetic restitution restored the legibility of the painting lost during the time.